After a slow start, the Ashville Lady Bulldogs did what they had to in the fourth quarter and pulled out a very hard-fought 53-44 win over the Saks Lady Wildcats last week in sub-regional action.

The win kept the season alive for the Lady Bulldogs and another trip to the Northeast Regional Tournament on the campus of Jacksonville State University.

Ashville fell behind 5-0 to start the contest. Coach Dale Beason inserted his ‘Second Five’ and by the end of the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs trailed 10-7.

The two teams continued to battle in the second quarter with Ashville finally taking its first lead on a trey by Jacie Tipton to make it 19-18. By the end of the first half, Ashville led 23-22.

“I thought we would start better than we did,” Beason said. “You have to give Saks credit because they came ready to play.”

Ashville continued its tough, physical approach to the game in the second half and by the end of the third quarter, they were up 34-31.

Then came the fourth quarter — the quarter Beason said his girls played their hearts out. They outscored Saks 19-13 to win 53-44.

“It was a very physical game,” Beason said. “I give our girls all the credit for making the plays they needed to down the stretch. It was a team win and 10 of the 11 girls who played scored.”

Leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring was Jacie Tipton with 14 points. Kim Fuller had a double-double as she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Taylor Coffee and Stormy Penland pumped in 7 points each while Destiny Montgomery added 4 points. Kristen O’Barr contributed 3 points while Ebonie Brooks, Lori Stephenson and Courtney Elders all had 2 points each. Bianca Bothwell finished the game with 1 point.

“I think Taylor Coffee and Stormy Penland played a great game,” Beason said. “Destiny Montgomery cane in and played some big minutes for us after Lori Stephenson got into foul trouble. Destiny played with the first team and the second team and did a great job.”

The win gave the Lady Bulldogs an overall record of 28-2.

They play Thursday morning at 9 a.m. on the campus of JSU in the opening round of the Northeast Regional. Their opponent was DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).

Beason is very familiar with DAR, the team that defeated them last year at JSU 57-44.

“They have tradition being at JSU,” Beason said. “They have a good outside shooter and a good post player. They are 14-14 this year, which I find surprising.”